The S&P 500 market rally is still in another consolidation phase, notes Randy Frederick of the Schwab Center for Financial Research. Here’s more on a wild ride that could be coming for sterlingSee the Market Snapshot column for the latest action. Meanwhile, the level of speculative short bets — that the market will go lower — have just hit a record high. A bump in crude supplies has brought down oil prices, which has hit energy names, and then has hit the broader markets. After a breathless night of POTUS tax reveals, we’ve got the outcome of the Federal Reserve meeting and the Dutch election headed our way.

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In fact, the performance of the S&P 500 index SPX, -0.13% for days in which quadruple-witching occurs no more raucous than any other Friday. While quadruple witching tends to boost volume, Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Securities, says the new normal has been more sedate. It is so-called quadruple witching day, but it may not be as frightful as it sounds. It threatens to foster a spike in volatility, or at least volume, in the market but according to Dow Jones data, the period isn’t as ominous at it appears. “If we were in a more volatile market you’d see it, but not with the VIX at an 11-handle,” he said.

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The folly of trying to time the stock market

“We are living in uncertain times.” The future is always unknown, so we are always living in uncertain times. On average, the broader stock market has returned more than 9 per cent per annum over the past 50 years. Do you think that now is a good time to invest in the stock market? First, while, in the short run, stock market returns rise and fall, often dramatically, they are reasonably predictable when measured over longer periods. One is to invest your funds in the stock market over time.